Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Gap Down to $442.62

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $442.62, but opened at $425.82. Linde shares last traded at $420.21, with a volume of 787,038 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on LIN shares. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $460.15.

Linde Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $455.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $422.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.38 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 19.26%. The business’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total transaction of $6,030,344.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,248.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Linde

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its position in Linde by 2.6% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 6,298 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,345,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its position in Linde by 29.0% in the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 1,027 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 1,738 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $647,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Veracity Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 2,542 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $946,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

About Linde

Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South Pacific. It offers atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases; and process gases, such as carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene.